St Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The headteacher has inspired the drive for improvement with governors and staff at every level.

As a result, there have been significant improvements in the achievement of pupils who have left Year 6 in the past two years and of pupils who are still in the academy. Since the previous inspection, standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2 have risen and are above average. Teaching is nearly always good, with some examples of outstanding practice.

Activities are planned well with a good variety of methods used to capture pupils' interests and make learning exciting. The good teaching and broad range of activiti...es in the early years ensure that children make good progress by the time they enter Year 1. Pupils' outstanding behaviour in lessons and their highly positive attitudes to learning underpin their good achievement.

They feel entirely safe in the academy. Pupils thoroughly enjoy the academy. This is reflected in their improved above average attendance.

The culture of tolerance and respect throughout the academy leads to some outstanding elements in pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It is not yet an outstanding school because : In some year groups the quality of pupils' work and the rates of progress in mathematics are not as consistent as they are in writing. The most able pupils are not always given hard enough work.

Information about this school

St Patrick's is a larger than average-sized primary school. Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes in teaching staff and school leaders, with exception of the headteacher. The Nursery class offers up to 25 part-time places for three-year-old children in the mornings and 25 places for afternoons.

At the time of the inspection there are 22 children attending in the mornings and 22 attending in the afternoons. Children in the reception classes attend full time. Almost 70% of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, which is well above the national average.

About 40% of the pupils speak English as an additional language and some start at the academy at an early stage of learning to speak English. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those supported by the pupil premium is just below average. The pupil premium funding provides support for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is higher than the national average. The academy meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress by the end of Year 6. The academy manages an early morning breakfast club.